New Legislation Proposed to Regulate Rare Strains of E. coli

By Debra J. Groom
The Post-Standard [Syracuse]
May 27, 2010

Washington, D.C. -- New legislation is being introduced today (Thursday May 27) in the U.S. Senate to regulate six unregulated strains of E. coli known to cause food-borne illnesses.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified these six rarer strains and estimates these strains cause 36,700 illnesses, 1,100 hospitalizations and 30 deaths in America each year.

CWT Announces Another Dairy Buyout --- Watch the Cull Market in July and August

Cooperatives Working Together  (CWT) has announced another dairy buyout event.  Although it does not look like it will draw down the dairy herd very much, the cull cows will probably be sold during the traditional lull  (and high price) in the cull cow market.  If your marketing strategy for your culls involves marketing them in July or August, you may wish to read the news release (below) and keep and eye on what is going on in the cull market.
Chad

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jim Tillison
CWT ANNOUNCES HERD RETIREMENT

Extension Seeks Cooperator to Evaluate Value of N from Alfalfa

I am looking for alfalfa growers who are interested in plowing down a portion of a small field (or small section of the field, shooting for an acre total) in the fall and another portion in the spring. Below is a brief summary of the CIG proposal that I am working on, which is dependent on cooperators for alfalfa tissue and soil samples. If you know of anyone who would be willing to work with us on this project, please let me or your local extension educator know asap. Thanks!

Amber Moore
Assistant Professor - Extension Soil Specialist

Head Wrangler position needed at Girl Scouts summer camp in Salmon

Girl Scouts of Silver Sage Council is looking for a qualified Head Wrangler for summer camps! Starts Soon!!!!
Wrangler must have extensive knowledge and ability to instruct children on horse basics and trail riding. Background in 4-H or Horse Club strongly preferred. Will also include horse related maintenance such as: tack maintenance, feeding and watering of animals, and ground and trail maintenance.

Minimum age- 21
Employment Dates- June 7th – July 11th, 2010 in beautiful Salmon, Idaho.
• Location: Salmon Idaho
• Compensation: $500-575 per week + room/board and meals included
• This is at a non-profit organization.
• Please send resume and contact information to KC Driscoll at kdriscoll@girlscouts-ssc.org

No-Till Farming Improves Soil Stability

By Don Comis
May 11, 2010
       A joint Agricultural Research Service (ARS)-multi-university study across the central Great Plains on the effects of more than 19 years of various tillage practices shows that no-till makes soil much more stable than plowed soil.
       No-till stores more soil carbon, which helps bind or glue soil particles together, making the first inch of topsoil two to seven times less vulnerable to the destructive force of raindrops than plowed soil.

Read the entire article.

APPLY FOR CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM BY JUNE 11

BOISE, Idaho, May 19, 2010 – The Natural Resources Conservation Service wants to reward good agriculture land stewards; the Conservation Stewardship Program offers monetary incentives to encourage producers to maintain existing and take on new conservation practices. Producers must sign up before June 11, 2010 to qualify for 2010 funds.

LIMITATIONS OF UREA AS A NITROGEN SOURCE

By Brad Brown, Extension Cereal Specialist, Parma R&E Center

Urea’s high N analysis and easy handling have made it the most popular dry N source for southern Idaho. Our reliance on urea in-creased with 9-11, and the loss of ammonium nitrate from the market-place.

While urea has much to recom-mend it as a dry N source, it has its limitations. There is potential for loss of ammonia N from urea applied as a top-dress to soils, particularly if sub-sequent rainfall is sufficient to dissolve urea but not enough to move it beyond the surface and into the soil. A number of factors affect ammonia loss including soil surface pH, clay content, organic matter, temperature, and soil moisture to name a few. A Montana publication, “Management of Urea Fertilizer to Minimize Volatilization” Montana State University Extension Bulletin EB173 covers many of the principles involved with ammonia volatilization from urea. The publication is available online for downloading at http://msuextension.org/publications/AgandNaturalResources/EB0173.pdf.

Eliminating Weeds Could Put More Cows on the Pasture

By Don Comis April 28, 2010

An online weed calculator developed by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist tells ranchers the number of additional cows they could raise if they eliminated one or two widespread exotic invasive weeds.

Rangeland ecologist Matt Rinella at the ARS Fort Keogh Livestock and Range Research Laboratory in Miles City, Mont., created a computer model that predicts weed impacts on forage production.

Data for developing the model came from 30 weed researchers working throughout the western United States. In addition to developing the calculator so that ranchers can calculate what weeds are costing them on any given site, Rinella used the data to estimate what weeds are costing ranchers in a 17-state region. He calculated that if leafy spurge were eliminated, ranchers in that entire region could graze up to 200,000 or more cows a year and save tens of millions of dollars.

To see the whole story go to: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/100428.htm

ARS Scientists Study Effects of Grazing on Grouse Habitat

By Ann Perry
April 30, 2010
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center in Burns, Ore., are taking a careful look at how grazing cattle affect sage-grouse habitat on high desert rangelands.

Cattle share this habitat with sage-grouse, which are chicken-sized birds that are notorious for the showy commotion they create during mating season. But the sage-grouse numbers have declined throughout their range, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has added the species as a candidate for Endangered Species Act protection. FWS will review the status of the sage-grouse annually to determine whether it warrants more immediate attention for being listed as an endangered species.

For the whole story go to : http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2010/100430.htm